Men in White connects the dots between the fallout of the Sandusky scandal, and 2016 Big Ten title

The ride between the fallout from the Jerry Sandusky scandal and Penn State’s hoisting of the Stagg Trophy was one no Penn State fan wanted to take. But it’s a story author Chris Raymond very much wanted to tell.

He was inspired to bring to light Penn State’s survival story from sanctions many deemed worse than the NCAA’s infamous “death penalty.”

“You had two great stories on either end. But can you kind of connect the dots between those those two seasons,” he said.

Raymond is a 1987 Penn State graduate. He began his writing career with the student newspaper, the Daily Collegian. Professionally, he’s worked most of his career in magazines.

“I helped launch ESPN the magazine. I was the college football editor for the inaugural issue,” he said. “I’ve done most of the men’s magazines and have covered sports pretty much my whole career”

Like many Penn Staters, the horrific crimes commited by Jerry Sandusky devastated him.

“I was just kind of gutted by it and kept waiting for somebody to kind of step forward and separate the crimes of the monster from like the ideals of the program,” he said.

The somebody, was somebodies. The 2012 graduation class ultimately inspired Raymond’s book when guys like Mike Mauti, Matt McGloin and Jordan Hill took a stand.

“When those players stepped forward …. and said, like one man didn’t build this program, we’re not going to let one man tear it down. For me, I was like, so relieved and so appreciative of what they had done,” he said. “And so when I went looking for a topic for a book, I thought, hey, that’s that’s the way to go.”

The book is called Men in White. It’s a 480 page oral history. In many ways, like a documentary would, it strings quote-after-quote together as more than 100 people tell the story in their own words. Raymond said this method provided a level and comfort.

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“I think that was really the key to this, was actually them trusting me to to that story, to tell that story And I think that’s what makes it different,” he said. “This is their story and it comes right from their mouths.”

The book launched over the summer and Raymond has spent time traveling to book singings and other events. Sunday, September 29th, he’ll be at the Student Book Store from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. to promote the book and sign copies.

He said the one thing that really stood out to him from this was how “destined” to rebuild all felt.

“I think the big thing is probably just the fact of some of the kismet that was there. I mean, when you kind of look at, you had two great coaches that sort of came in one right after another,” he said of Bill O’Brien and James Franklin. “When you look at the quarterbacks, I mean, to go from Matt McGloin to Christian Hackenberg to Trace McSorley is like you’ve never seen three quarterbacks like that in a row at Penn State. And then amidst all of that, to have a young kid named Saquon Barkley kind of set foot on campus in the school’s hour of need…. you couldn’t have asked for better ambassadors, not just for Penn State, but for the entire for the game of college football.”

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